Hi All,
I found this interview very moving on many levels: http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/ccp-harding/. It's about an hour long. I feel Vincent Harding is a very individuated being. I find the way he expresses his views not just articulate, but also poetic. It also makes me think of our group and it's purpose. Are we ultimately preparing ourselves to help realize the "beloved community?"
Also, here is something more about the On Being series of interviews: http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/08/01/krista-tippett. It's less than 10 minutes long. What particularly intrigued me was the whole notion of trying to understand someone's point of view vs. trying to find common ground.
If you listen to these, I'd love to hear your reactions and insights.
Enjoy,
Paula
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
2011 Spoto Seminar Reading List
Hi All,
A message from Angelo:
Here's the reading for the Oct. weekend: The Memoir of Tina Keller-Jenny, ed. by Wendy Swan, published by Spring. Please order directly through Spring Publications and receive a 22% discount. You can send your orders to
JoAnne BartonCustomer ServiceSpring Journal Inc.71202 Cutter PlaceAbita Springs, LA 70420(985) 893-7529
Or, go to their web site and order: http://www.springjournalandbooks.com/cgi-bin/ecommerce/ac/agora.cgi?p_id=03261&xm=on&ppinc=search2
Here is JoAnne's note to me:
"The order system will compute the order at full price. If they put a note in the 'notes' section of the order reminding me of the 22% discount for the seminar, I will adjust the order cost before charging their credit card."
When ordering, mention the Spoto October Weekend.
An optional/additional text is Jung on Active Imagination, ed. Joan Chodorow in the Encountering Jung series.
See you in October!
A message from Angelo:
Here's the reading for the Oct. weekend: The Memoir of Tina Keller-Jenny, ed. by Wendy Swan, published by Spring. Please order directly through Spring Publications and receive a 22% discount. You can send your orders to
JoAnne BartonCustomer ServiceSpring Journal Inc.71202 Cutter PlaceAbita Springs, LA 70420(985) 893-7529
Or, go to their web site and order: http://www.springjournalandbooks.com/cgi-bin/ecommerce/ac/agora.cgi?p_id=03261&xm=on&ppinc=search2
Here is JoAnne's note to me:
"The order system will compute the order at full price. If they put a note in the 'notes' section of the order reminding me of the 22% discount for the seminar, I will adjust the order cost before charging their credit card."
When ordering, mention the Spoto October Weekend.
An optional/additional text is Jung on Active Imagination, ed. Joan Chodorow in the Encountering Jung series.
See you in October!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Murray Stein: Individuation video
Our October 2011 retreat theme is Tools for Individuation.
Below is a link to a video clip by Murray Stein on Individuation found on the Asheville Jung Center website. His presentation is one of a four DVD set titled The 4 Pillars of Psychotherapy.
http://ashevillejungcenter.org/dvd-store/4-pillars-of-psychotherapy/
Below is a link to a video clip by Murray Stein on Individuation found on the Asheville Jung Center website. His presentation is one of a four DVD set titled The 4 Pillars of Psychotherapy.
http://ashevillejungcenter.org/dvd-store/4-pillars-of-psychotherapy/
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Sad News from Loretta
I regret to have to share the following email I received from Loretta:
Dear 'Spoto Group'
Our wonderful friend Patricia Barry left us on Valentine's day. How fitting of her. She will be missed by many. I know she loved our group and all the wonderful experiences and people. If you would like to make a contribution in her name she mentioned Dana Farber Cancer Center.
I'm sure I didn't get everyone in our group including Sr. Nancy. I'm away and don't have my full addressbook. Can you please pass this along to those I might have missed.
Thanks and love to you all.
Loretta
As, Katherine Hirsh put so beautifully, "Now Valentine's Day will have an extra meaning for me in years to come." I invite you to use the Comments link to share any memories and reflections you have of Pat.
Dear 'Spoto Group'
Our wonderful friend Patricia Barry left us on Valentine's day. How fitting of her. She will be missed by many. I know she loved our group and all the wonderful experiences and people. If you would like to make a contribution in her name she mentioned Dana Farber Cancer Center.
I'm sure I didn't get everyone in our group including Sr. Nancy. I'm away and don't have my full addressbook. Can you please pass this along to those I might have missed.
Thanks and love to you all.
Loretta
As, Katherine Hirsh put so beautifully, "Now Valentine's Day will have an extra meaning for me in years to come." I invite you to use the Comments link to share any memories and reflections you have of Pat.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Favorite Poems
Last week, a sharing of poems was initiated when I forwarded a Rumi poem sent to me by a friend. Hopefully, this will continue, but here's what's been shared so far, in chronological order (of submission). I can add more as they come in:
From Paula Spizziri – 10/20/10
Hi All,
My friend Afsoun is Iranian and likes to send poems to her friends every so often (a nice habit, don’t you think?). It seemed apropos of our conversation this week, so I wanted to share it with all of you. I would have just posted it to the blog, but we would have lost the Persian writing, and I feel seeing it the way Rumi probably wrote it adds to the experience.
This gives me an idea, however. Would people like to post some of their favorite poems on the blog, along with why they find the poem meaningful?
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear?
When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return.
از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم — وز نما مُردم بهحیوان سرزدم
مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم — پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟
حمله دیگر بمیرم از بشر — تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر
وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو — کل شیء هالک الا وجهه
بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم — آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم
پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون — گویدم کانا الیه راجعون
From Danielle Porrier – 10/22/10
Beautiful! Thank you.
It happens that my favorite poem is along the same lines, and comes from Hesse:
Alle Tode (All Deaths)
I have already died all deaths,
And I am going to die all deaths again,
Die the death of the wood in the tree,Die the stone death in the mountain,
Earth death in the sand,
Leaf death in the crackling summer grass
And the poor bloody human death.
I will be born again, flowers,
Tree and grass, I will be born again,
Fish and deer, bird and butterfly.
And out of every form,
Longing will drag me up the stairways
To the last suffering,Up to the suffering of men.
O quivering tensed bow,
When the raging fist of longing
Commands both poles of life
To bend to each other!
Yet often, and many times over,
You will hunt me down from death to birth
On the painful track of the creations,
The glorious track of the creations.
Blessings to all,
Danielle
From Jeanlu Ryersbach – 10/25/10
Hello everyone.
I have recommended "The Age of Innocence" to a few friends and we are continuing the conversation. I wish all of you a time to slow down, reflect and meditate in the way that suits you. Took me a long time to learn that, believe that. May you all see yourselves as the 'master carver'. "Master Carver" is one of my favorite prose/poems conveying Taoist sensibilities.
A virtual hug,
Jeanlu
“The Woodcarver” in The Way of Chuang Tzu
Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand of precious wood. When it was finished, all who saw it were astonished. They said it must be the work of spirits. The Prince of Lu said to the master carver: “What is your secret?”
Khing replied: “I am only a workman: I have no secret. There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded I guarded my spirit, did not expend it on trifles that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set my heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.
“By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.
“Then I went to the forest
to see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand
And begin.
“If I had not met this particular tree
there would have been
no bell stand at all.
“What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”
From Michael Connolly – 10/25/10
Hello friends and fellow travelers
Here is a poem that I was going to share - Cavafy's Ithaca.
Perhaps I already have at an earlier retreat.
Michael
Ithaca
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
- Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)
From Kathy Meyers – 10/26/10
Hi Everybody,
I'm not very computer savvy, and this seemed a way I could address you all.
This sharing of poems is delightful. Michael's poem has always been a
favorite. The one I have put at the beginning of my memoirs recently
finished is the following:
Look to this day
For it is the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
and the realities of your existence:
The glory of action.
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of beauty,
For yesterday is but a dream and
tomorrow is only a vision:
But today well lived makes every
yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
From Paula Spizziri – 10/20/10
Hi All,
My friend Afsoun is Iranian and likes to send poems to her friends every so often (a nice habit, don’t you think?). It seemed apropos of our conversation this week, so I wanted to share it with all of you. I would have just posted it to the blog, but we would have lost the Persian writing, and I feel seeing it the way Rumi probably wrote it adds to the experience.
This gives me an idea, however. Would people like to post some of their favorite poems on the blog, along with why they find the poem meaningful?
I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear?
When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return.
از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم — وز نما مُردم بهحیوان سرزدم
مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم — پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟
حمله دیگر بمیرم از بشر — تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر
وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو — کل شیء هالک الا وجهه
بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم — آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم
پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون — گویدم کانا الیه راجعون
From Danielle Porrier – 10/22/10
Beautiful! Thank you.
It happens that my favorite poem is along the same lines, and comes from Hesse:
Alle Tode (All Deaths)
I have already died all deaths,
And I am going to die all deaths again,
Die the death of the wood in the tree,Die the stone death in the mountain,
Earth death in the sand,
Leaf death in the crackling summer grass
And the poor bloody human death.
I will be born again, flowers,
Tree and grass, I will be born again,
Fish and deer, bird and butterfly.
And out of every form,
Longing will drag me up the stairways
To the last suffering,Up to the suffering of men.
O quivering tensed bow,
When the raging fist of longing
Commands both poles of life
To bend to each other!
Yet often, and many times over,
You will hunt me down from death to birth
On the painful track of the creations,
The glorious track of the creations.
Blessings to all,
Danielle
From Jeanlu Ryersbach – 10/25/10
Hello everyone.
I have recommended "The Age of Innocence" to a few friends and we are continuing the conversation. I wish all of you a time to slow down, reflect and meditate in the way that suits you. Took me a long time to learn that, believe that. May you all see yourselves as the 'master carver'. "Master Carver" is one of my favorite prose/poems conveying Taoist sensibilities.
A virtual hug,
Jeanlu
“The Woodcarver” in The Way of Chuang Tzu
Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand of precious wood. When it was finished, all who saw it were astonished. They said it must be the work of spirits. The Prince of Lu said to the master carver: “What is your secret?”
Khing replied: “I am only a workman: I have no secret. There is only this:
When I began to think about the work you commanded I guarded my spirit, did not expend it on trifles that were not to the point.
I fasted in order to set my heart at rest.
After three days fasting,
I had forgotten gain and success.
After five days
I had forgotten praise or criticism.
After seven days
I had forgotten my body
With all its limbs.
“By this time all thought of your Highness
And of the court had faded away.
All that might distract me from the work
Had vanished.
I was collected in the single thought
Of the bell stand.
“Then I went to the forest
to see the trees in their own natural state.
When the right tree appeared before my eyes,
The bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, beyond doubt.
All I had to do was to put forth my hand
And begin.
“If I had not met this particular tree
there would have been
no bell stand at all.
“What happened?
My own collected thought
Encountered the hidden potential in the wood;
From this live encounter came the work
Which you ascribe to the spirits.”
From Michael Connolly – 10/25/10
Hello friends and fellow travelers
Here is a poem that I was going to share - Cavafy's Ithaca.
Perhaps I already have at an earlier retreat.
Michael
Ithaca
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
- Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)
From Kathy Meyers – 10/26/10
Hi Everybody,
I'm not very computer savvy, and this seemed a way I could address you all.
This sharing of poems is delightful. Michael's poem has always been a
favorite. The one I have put at the beginning of my memoirs recently
finished is the following:
Look to this day
For it is the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
and the realities of your existence:
The glory of action.
The bliss of growth,
The splendor of beauty,
For yesterday is but a dream and
tomorrow is only a vision:
But today well lived makes every
yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
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